One person was killed and two people were injured in a vehicle fire on the Grand Central Parkway Tuesday afternoon.

The car, a 2010 Toyota Highlander, burst into flames about 1:40 p.m. on the eastbound side of the roadway near the exit for the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, cops said.

One of the passengers, identified by police as 50-year-old Dale Tulloch of Yonkers, N.Y, died in the fire. The driver, a 26-year-old man, and another passenger, a 25-year-old woman, were taken to New York Hospital Queens with minor injuries.

Officers at the scene were told that the vehicle ran over a piece of metal, which ignited the gas tank, cops said. The SUV then pulled over to the side of the parkway, where the occupants noticed smoke coming from the car, followed by flames.

The driver and the surviving passenger managed to escape before the car ignited, but the 50-year-old, who was in the backseat, did not, according to police.